How to get public sector work?

[Hristo Stoyanov]

Hi, i have a building company which does work in everything from new build to extensions to driveways ect. However i want to expand into the public sector. My company is small time consisting of 10 sub contractors. What would i need to apply for public sector work? And what does my company need ?

 

[ethical PR]

You would need to tender for the work. You can find these on the relevant public sector sites.

You would normally need to have all relevant policies in place and complete the tender documents outlining how you would deliver, costs etc.

You will also need relevant insurance, qualifications for those providing the work etc.

 

[Scott@KarmaContent]

You can find consruction tenders here: http://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/tenders/index/index/page/1

Not sure if it's exhaustive, so may be worth looking at tendering sites too. Tendering for public sector contracts can be fruitful but the process can be drawn out. Be prepared for lots of hard work and jumping through hoops!

 

[Hristo Stoyanov]

Thanks alot!, what kind of insurance and qualifications would i need?

 

[ethical PR]

Well I presume you will already have standard insurances for your industry - tenders will specify levels of cover you need. Qualifications will depend on the type of work you are tendering for.

 

[Mark T Jones]

There are many alert services or your Local Authority website will list contracts which you will then need to filter.

You need to consider the practicalities of actually winning contracts - in particular the effects on cashflow.

 

[ethical PR]

Have you got the experience and resources to undertake large scale developments? If not you would be better looking to sub contract to an existing public sector contractor.

 

[Karllacey]

Just to throw my hat in the ring on this one as well. There are the tender sites, but also at local level e.g. town and parish councils, the decisions may fall at local level subject to amount of course.

Also there is consideration in respect of commercial/residential. Some of the specific council buildings are handled at branch level. E.g leisure centres MIGHT run their own cost base.

Furthermore there are NHS works which are done in a different way and then there is social housing which is 'kind of' a public works.

As many have said the tender process with the majority of government based works can be tedious and time consuming and you will require the full infra-structure of your business from health and safety to equal opportunities or getting that in place will be long and painful, assuming you do not have this.

Maybe you are just throwing your eggs into one route to market when there are many to explore - not saying write it off, just saying be ready for a battle.

 

[Designanddetail]

To really get your foot in the door you will need to know who to give the brown envelope to. simple as that. Those who say that's not the case are in denial.

 

[ethical PR]

Really - and how many times have you successfully done that Design and Detail?

Having been involved on both sides of the fence - for over twenty years - I've never seen it happen

 

[Gecko001]

Generally the public sector is very cautious when letting building contracts. They have a lot of hoops that you have to jump through. The particular public sector manager responsible for procuring the work needs to be sure that the job will not create problems that will leave egg on his/her face. They tend to be much more cautious than say a commercial client who will only lose some money, whereas the public sector manager could lose a whole career. I think some have a grading system where the tenders are graded and just do not consider the lowest tender. So the size of the building firm and their experience could be as big a factor as price.

One thing that the public sector is particularity interested in is what happens if a key member of staff is sick while the project is being carried out. Or what happens during peak workload periods in the firm.

 

[CKG]

Most tenders come with what's called a PQQ - Pre qualification questionnaire. If you pass that you can tender.

In my experience of the public sector tenders are done blind - they are submitted as a standard document that doesn't differentiate one firm from another and the one that fits the spec best wins.

The public sector is pretty clean these days. Though I have lost price weighted tenders on pretty dubious price differences - Like £5 - so shenanigans still goes on at a low level.

 

[farmerswife]

mostly its based on H&S. You would need to be a member of constructionline as a pre qual. You are usually put on a preferred contractors list which may cost in QS fees to get as far as quoting. To be able to fill in PQQ you would need to gain points such as being members of institutions such as Considerate Contractors, Constructionline, CHAS, etc. You would need to submit all insurance policies, accounts, certificates. Some authorities may insist on having a H&S advisor and evidence of training etc. Once you have been selected as a preferred contractor it would depend on whether it was a fixed term where you would need to employ a QS to submit prices (this is costly). Again depending on what you do you may be interviewed. A local Housing association put as on a framework and as job come up you are requested to submit a price - however, again a QS needs to price these up accurately as these jobs are a nightmare and you could be down £100 again. So the guy in the HA requests prices from say 5 contractors - these prices can vary from the ridiculously low to the cautious sensible builder who foresees problems. The job will go the same contractor who puts in the silly low price. This may be different for some LAs and some jobs are easier (say dropped kerbs) but its a nightmare and would say to get us on the HA framework cost us over £3k in QS and our time which which we received no work and have shelved the idea. Be willing to become members of all these organisations first.

 

[farmerswife]

also you would need very good control of cash flow as you wont get paid until the end plus some work up to 60 days.
All contractors would have to pass CRB checks, be uniformed, carry ID and be able to cope with the demands of working with the public.
Most of the bigger contractors have therefore control over these as they have the means. Some work may be sub contracted however on some contracts this isnt allowed.

 

[Tom Smart]

Might be worth joining the FSB. I went to a meeting on how to get Public Sector work, the talk was presented by the decision makers and they told you what exactly they were looking for. After the meeting Public Sector stuff didn't really seem my bag so I didn't pursue it. They are more than likely offering the same type of stuff in your area.